Gameplay• The producer remarked that the programming for enemy and ally AI in this title is designed to punish players who fail to pay attention to their allies. [...]

• Each stage offers a different type of horse that can be called upon. However, some characters may summon special steeds (such as Red Hare) at certain points in the game.

• Dual weapon wielding remains with all weapons from Dynasty Warriors 7 and its expansions present. There are new EX weapons, jump charges, and no gender restrictions for this game. Players can no longer equip weapons held in reserve in the midst of battle.

• Character growth returns to a leveling system reminiscent to Dynasty Warriors 6. Universal weapon mastery is affected by the levels of a character using it as an EX weapon. Once obtained and equipped, characters can activate weapon proficiency skills regardless of the character's proficiency.

• Weapon seals from the previous title are replaced with a tempering system similar to the Warriors Orochiseries. Players can use this system to now alter weapon elements.

• A new weapon affinity system is in place with three properties: 天 (Heaven), 地 (Earth), and 人 (People). They have a triangular relationship for their affinity with one another and are randomly assigned to weapons.

• Heaven trumps People.

• People is superior to Earth.

• Earth has an advantage over Heaven.

• New weapon affinities provide different effects depending on the weapon type used by the player and their opponents.

• Storm Rush - Enables player to break enemy guard and attack rapidly. Hits as long as the opponent's weapon affinity is worse and their vigor gauge is depleted. However, the bonus effects gradually fades every time the player attacks.

• Variable Counter - When facing an opponent with the advantageous weapon affinity, the player can perform a counterattack to blow surrounding enemies away whilst switching weapons.

• Awakening Musou - Activated after meeting specific conditions, this effect greatly increases the player's stats and allows them to perform an Awakening Musou attack. If the attack is used to defeat multiple enemies, it will turn into a True Awakening Musou, which causes the fallen to drop better stat-increasing items. During this state, the player's musou stacks will merge into a single gauge reminiscent to those seen in past titles.• A new type of difficulty setting allows players to perform various combos with a single button.

• Clothing will now become dirtied and stained from participating in battle.

• Downloadable content so far includes costumes and weapon skins. The DLC costumes from Dynasty Warriors 7 and its Xtreme Legends expansion are not compatible due to graphical differences.

Ishaan wrote:When Dynasty Warriors 8—or Shin Sangoku Musou 7 as it is known in Japan—was recently announced via Jump magazine, there was a little confusion (this happens every time) among our readers as to why we’re one number ahead in the west. For the folks that still don’t know the reason, here’s a quick explanation.

Back in 1997, Koei published a game called Sangoku Musou—without the “Shin”—for the original PlayStation. This was a one-on-one weapon-based fighting game featuring feudal warlords, and was localized in the west as “Dynasty Warriors”. You can watch a video above, courtesy of Gamer Walkthroughs.

When Koei eventually released Shin Sangoku Musou in Japan, they left its fighting roots behind and adopted the hack-and-slash style the series is known for today. However, instead of being a new series in the west like it was in Japan, this game was localized as Dynasty Warriors 2, instead of New Dynasty Warriors or something along those lines to reflect the “Shin” part of the title.